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Well it's finally time to get back to what I really care about. My first car, my pride and joy, and my style of racing. For the last few months I've been "flirting" with Mopar life in the form of my recently acquired 2008 Caliber SRT4 and 2013 Charger SRT8 (shown below).
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While I'll be happy to post more pictures of these upon request, the intention of this post is to focus on my Impala SS. It's time to do the build I've always desired to do, and that's the build of the "Impala SSX". Back in 2011 I discovered two GM concept cars that struck me as some of the coolest versions of their respective models that I've ever seen. It was the Z06X and the Camaro SSX (both seen below). These were 100% track prepped cars that could go to any road course and tear up the tarmac. My thought process? If they can do that with the Camaro, why can't I do that with the Impala? From then on I've been bound and determined to transform my SS into a track monSSter, modeled similarly to the SSX concepts that I saw.
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So where to start? I had to plan out almost every single item necessary to complete this project (still not done...), and then I had to start the teardown. So the other night I took the SS on its last cruise powered by an LT1 & 4l60e combination. It's bittersweet, but I'm beyond ready to get this build started.
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At this point you might be asking "so what's with the title? One lap of America?". For those that do not know, One Lap of America is an extremely cool 8 day event that is nothing but road cruising and road course racing, my two favorite things in life! Ever since I've discovered this I've been wanting to attend, driving my SS, with my Dad as the copilot. This is an event that seems to test the true build quality and performance of any vehicle, and when I'm finally done I plan on ponying up the (steep...) $3k and tear up some tracks!
For those wondering, NO I have not read all the rules. I have a fairly good idea of what rules/modifications are required and a possible class I'd compete in. However, this will ultimately be a learning experience that I'm very happy to become immersed in. Am I expecting to win? No. Would I like to be competitive? Absolutely, but ultimately I hope to be satisfied by the experience and the memories I'll make.
Now, onto the main event. This build WILL INCLUDE:
-Frame ("refreshening" and stiffening)
-Motor (performance, cooling, tuning)
-Drivetrain
-Suspesion
-Brakes
-Wheels/Tires
-Exterior (aero, paint, ect)
-Interior (safety such as rollbar, harnesses, extinguisher, ect)
And anything else I might have forgotten...
PS. For those of you that might have wondered how the car came to be in the state that it is, please take a look at when I first did a "re-freshening" of my SS from start to finish. LINK: Form = Function
While I'll be happy to post more pictures of these upon request, the intention of this post is to focus on my Impala SS. It's time to do the build I've always desired to do, and that's the build of the "Impala SSX". Back in 2011 I discovered two GM concept cars that struck me as some of the coolest versions of their respective models that I've ever seen. It was the Z06X and the Camaro SSX (both seen below). These were 100% track prepped cars that could go to any road course and tear up the tarmac. My thought process? If they can do that with the Camaro, why can't I do that with the Impala? From then on I've been bound and determined to transform my SS into a track monSSter, modeled similarly to the SSX concepts that I saw.
So where to start? I had to plan out almost every single item necessary to complete this project (still not done...), and then I had to start the teardown. So the other night I took the SS on its last cruise powered by an LT1 & 4l60e combination. It's bittersweet, but I'm beyond ready to get this build started.
At this point you might be asking "so what's with the title? One lap of America?". For those that do not know, One Lap of America is an extremely cool 8 day event that is nothing but road cruising and road course racing, my two favorite things in life! Ever since I've discovered this I've been wanting to attend, driving my SS, with my Dad as the copilot. This is an event that seems to test the true build quality and performance of any vehicle, and when I'm finally done I plan on ponying up the (steep...) $3k and tear up some tracks!
For those wondering, NO I have not read all the rules. I have a fairly good idea of what rules/modifications are required and a possible class I'd compete in. However, this will ultimately be a learning experience that I'm very happy to become immersed in. Am I expecting to win? No. Would I like to be competitive? Absolutely, but ultimately I hope to be satisfied by the experience and the memories I'll make.
Now, onto the main event. This build WILL INCLUDE:
-Frame ("refreshening" and stiffening)
-Motor (performance, cooling, tuning)
-Drivetrain
-Suspesion
-Brakes
-Wheels/Tires
-Exterior (aero, paint, ect)
-Interior (safety such as rollbar, harnesses, extinguisher, ect)
And anything else I might have forgotten...
PS. For those of you that might have wondered how the car came to be in the state that it is, please take a look at when I first did a "re-freshening" of my SS from start to finish. LINK: Form = Function
